OK So I am posting this so we continue to get to the bottom of the Chris Kyle Assassination by the Obama Cabal.
The Killer Eddie Routh did not kill just because he claimed to have PTSD.
THIS ARTICLE BELOW MAKES THE SYMPTOMS OF PTSD VERY CLEAR. THERE IS NOT ONE...THATS RIGHT NOT ONE INCIDENCE OF CONNECTING A MURDER TO PTSD.
SO HOW HOW COME ONLY AN ANTI OBAMA PATRIOT IS KILLED BY THE ONLY MAN IN CLINICALLY RESEARCHED MEDICAL JOURNALS WHO WOULD HAVE KILLED SOMEONE BECAUSE OF HIS PTSD.
REALLY ??
SOUND VERY FISHY DOESN'T IT ??
WE HAVE GUYS COMING BACK FROM VIETNAM TO IRAQ TO AFHANISTAN WITH PTSD
AND THE ONLY GUY WHO MURDERS SOMEONE IN COLD BLOOD
IS SOMEONE WHO IS ANTI OBAMA
AND KILLED MUSLIMS JIHADIS ??
REALLY NOW ??
___________________________________________________________________
Are veterans (or police officers) with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) a danger on the streets? Are combat veterans with PTSD returning home as “trained killers?”
We have all read these newspaper headlines: “PTSD made him a Murderer!” “Psychologist: Killer has PTSD!” “War damaged vet kills girlfriend; PTSD to blame?” “Officer
uses PTSD defense for strangling, battering his wife.”HERE ARE SOME CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY FACTS!!
But what about the actual PTSD symptoms? What
are they, and do they typically include violent behaviors, like murder?
Simply put, PTSD is “fear” based, not “aggression” based. The DSM-IV-R (Diagnostic Statistical Manual, Revised) is clear. In brief, the primary features of the this illness are:
·
flashbacks
· withdrawal
· numbing
· hyperarousal
·
and
isolation.
Violence is not included. In fact, not one single research study exists linking violent behavior with the diagnosis of PTSD. While, anger and agitation are common symptoms of PTSD, these feelings
tend to be turned inward,
contributing to making it the terribly painful disorder it is.
These are the kind of headlines making the rounds as thousands of military veterans return from our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not only is society fearing them, but some police departments are warning their personnel to “be on the watch” for veterans in general (as if you can tell them apart), with the implication that military service alone carries the threat of having the “PTSD germ.”
Defense
attorneys are always open for a ready-made opportunity to suggest that
a suspect was conditioned by the
military into responding to any stress situations with violence—and
thereby commit
a murder. The
media, of course, sees a story guaranteed to generate both interest and
controversy throughout the extended
length of a trial, and the headlines, as we have seen, inflame and
arouse a variety of
passions.
The
unfortunate consequence of this sensationalism,
sadly, is to stigmatize not only
veterans with PTSD, but all PTSD sufferers, as being potentially
dangerous.
This is not really new. To begin with,
society has always tended to view the mentally ill as “dangerous.” Mental Health America
reports that characters with mental illnesses are depicted in prime time
television shows
as the most dangerous of all
demographic groups: 60 percent were shown to be involved in crime or
violence. Also, most news
accounts portray people with mental
illness as dangerous. The vast majority of news stories on mental
illness either focus
on other negative characteristics
related to people with the disorder (e.g., unpredictability and
unsociability) or on medical
treatments.
The result is predictable. Most citizens believe persons with mental illnesses are dangerous. Instead
of improving, attitudes are getting
worse: a longitudinal study of American’s attitudes on mental health
between 1950
and 1996 found the proportion of
Americans who describe mental illness in terms consistent with violent
or dangerous behavior
has nearly doubled.
Many employers, already
reluctant to hire anyone with a
mental illness or provide them the accommodations they might need,
disregard or find creative
ways to circumvent the Americans
with Disabilities Act and deny employment or other rights to PTSD
victims, adding to the
burden already faced by returning
veterans.
It
is no small wonder, therefore, that we find so many police chiefs in
the
United States and Canada resistant
to the idea that police work can lead to PTSD (and that suicide as a
result is impossible).
Where do we begin, in order to address this question? Does a diagnosis of PTSD include the potential for violence?
First, we need to remember that PTSD is an injury—both emotional and physical. While it is listed as a mental illness, it is the only one listed in the DSM (Diagnostic
Manual of Mental Disorders) as being caused by an external cause. Second,
PTSD is caused
when a person is exposed to a
catastrophic event (or series of events over time) involving real or
threatened death or injury
to themselves or others. During exposure to that trauma, one experiences intense fear,
feelings of helplessness, or horror.
There is likelihood that most people will experience a traumatic event at some
time in their lifetime. Not
all will suffer from PTSD, depending on a number of factors
that include their individual
backgrounds, their relationship to the type of trauma, the degree and
manner of exposure, and
other factors. Military
combat and police work are particularly high-risk areas for
PTSD, however, because of the
intensity of the types of trauma, the frequency of traumatic events and,
particularly in the
case of law enforcement, the fact
that traumatic events are accumulated over years and decades.
But what about the actual PTSD symptoms? What
are they, and do they typically include violent behaviors, like murder?
Simply put, PTSD is “fear” based, not “aggression” based. The DSM-IV-R (Diagnostic Statistical Manual, Revised) is clear. In brief, the primary features of the this illness are:
·
flashbacks
· withdrawal
· numbing
· hyperarousal
·
and
isolation.
Violence is not included. In fact, not one single research study exists linking violent behavior with the diagnosis of PTSD. While, anger and agitation are common symptoms of PTSD, these feelings
tend to be turned inward,
contributing to making it the terribly painful disorder it is. Combined
with depression, it is not
unusual for the sufferer to become
suicidal. But a diagnosis of PTSD, in itself, does
not make a person violent towards others. Again, the concern should be more that they
will be a danger to themselves, not others. There
is a possibility, of course,
that unintentional harm could come
to others as the result of a suicide attempt, not only by gunshot, but
though an intentional
automobile accident, jumping from a
building, or any other number of self-destructive acts.
John Violanti, Ph.D., in his book, “Police Suicide: Epidemic
in Blue,”
points out the interesting
phenomenon of “suicide by suspect,” in which an officer consciously or
unconsciously
wishes to die and willfully involves
himself in situations of extreme danger or confrontation with a
criminal, thereby increasing
the risk of death. Even so, in these situations the danger to others is indirect and
unintentional.
The
unfortunate result of this misinformation is
that more and more cases are
erroneously using the defense that PTSD is to blame for murders by
veterans
when, in fact, there were other emotional disorders
and problems involved,
including prior anger issues, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and
substance abuse, that were more
likely responsible for the
individual’s violent behavior. Society
already views
the mentally ill as "dangerous"--we
need to be very careful not to further stigmatize these people via this
illness by suggesting
that a violent/murderous potential
exists or was the primary factor until everything has been examined.
